RPS launches digital ADR checker

Pharmaceutical Press, the publishing arm of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), has launched a digital product allowing clinicians to search for potential adverse drug reactions (ADRs) among more than 1,600 drugs.

Martindale’s ADR Checker, available to MedicinesComplete subscribers, is designed for patient-facing healthcare professionals in their daily practice. Users can search by medicine or medicine class, symptom, or a combination of both. The tool also flags whether an ADR is caused by a single drug, or by concurrent use of multiple drugs. ADRs are listed in order of severity and frequency, and the tool hosts a direct link to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA’s) Yellow Card Reporting Scheme.

Across Europe, up to 13% of unplanned hospital admissions are caused by ADRs, and in the UK, around 700 patients per year die from avoidable ADRs.

Karen Baxter, managing director of Pharmaceutical Press, said that the ADR Checker “has been designed with the demands of the healthcare environment in mind, and supports the need for quick, evidence-based clinical decision making”.

Paul Bennett, chief executive of the RPS, added: “We recognise the burden of ADRs for both patients and the healthcare system, and the increasing challenges faced by clinicians. The RPS has a key role to play in improving patient outcomes by ensuring the safe and effective use of medicines.”

The ADR Checker has been developed by the team behind the Martindale, British National Formulary and Stockley’s Drug Interactions resources. The data used to create this tool come from multiple sources, including manufacturers’ interactions product information, regulatory advice and published literature.

• Pharmaceutical Press is owned by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, the publisher of The Pharmaceutical Journal